wiredinUSA June 2015

INDEX

Testing times

Inspectors snap to it

Cable delayed

Power share

A detailed inspection of a Forth Road Bridge main cable will be carried out following an increase indetectedwirebreaks. Thebridge operator, Forth Estuary Transport Authority, found 24 wire breaks in three months in one area of the cable, comparedwith 93 breaks across the entire bridge in the previous eight years. Chief engineer Barry Colford said: “The main cable acoustic monitoring system is designed to give us early warning of potential problems within the cable. While this increase in wire breaks does merit further investigation, there are no immediate safety concerns and the cables still have more than enough strength to do their job. “The inspection…is purely to determine whether the recent increase in the rate and concentration of wire breaks is indicative of a longer term problem. Once we know the results of this inspection we will recommend any further action that is required to ensure thebridge remains safeandopen to traffic.” Each of the main cables on the bridge consists of 11,618 individual steel wires. An acoustic monitoring systemwas installed in 2006 to detect wire breaks. Microphones along the length of the cables identify the sound of snapping wires.

Eland Cables has become the first UK cable supplier to achieve UKAS ISO 17025 accreditation for its Cable Lab – an in-house cable testing facility. ISO 17025 is a standard for calibration and testing laboratories around the world, and accreditation to this international standard demonstrates that the Cable Lab is technically competent and able to produce precise and accurate test results. The laboratory can now be called upon by third parties for independent and comprehensive cable assessment, a full audit trail, and a test report including RoHS testing and the requirements for SONCAP approval.

Russian naval ships are accused of repeatedly disrupting cable-laying work between Sweden and Lithuania prompting diplomatic protests from both countries. The laying of the Nordbalt cable has been disrupted four times by Russian ships in the past two months, the Swedish press reported. “Sweden has discussed the matter with Russian authorities,” confirmed Pezhman Fivrin, spokesperson for the Swedish foreign minister, Margot Wallström. The Lithuanian foreign ministry has also taken action, summoning the Russian foreign minister and claiming that Russia is in violation of the United Nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS). The ministry released a statement that accused Russia of “attempts to interfere” with the construction of the cable. Russia has explained the action as a protecting its military exercise zones. The 400km cable runs from Klaipeda in Lithuania to Nybro on Sweden's east coast. The purpose of the cable is to improve Lithuanian and Scandinavian trading on electricity markets, and to increase the security of power supply to both the Nordics and Lithuania. The energy link has received financial support from the EU.

Francesco Starace, chief executive officer of Enel, and Matteo Del Fante, chief executive officer of Terna, have signed a memorandum of understanding for three years of cooperation in identifying, assessing and developing integrated initiatives and opportunities in transmission projects in countries where Enel and Terna have a strategic or commercial interest. Under the terms of the memorandum, which excludes Italy, if either company identifies an opportunity that it deems could be of mutual interest, or even of exclusive interest to the other party, they could offer that party information on the opportunity as a priority. Opportunities will be assessed by the two companies on the basis of their common interests.

EUROPE NEWS

wiredInUSA - June 2015

wiredInUSA - June 2015

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